During the week of May 3-7, musicians, schools, and other organizations across the country will come together in support of the fourth annual National Wanna Play Music Week, sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). This week-long celebration highlights the importance of music education programs in schools and promotes the benefits of playing music for people of all ages and skill levels. NAMM is also a TakeLessons organizational partner, which is why we are proud to support this event and power the lesson locator tool on the official Wanna Play Music website.

The week will kick off with “Music Monday” on May 3, an event in which schools, community and professional organizations will perform one piece of music simultaneously at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m. Mountain Time, 12 p.m. Central Time, and 1 p.m. Eastern Time. NAMM hopes that by having everyone sing the same song at the same time, music will transcend all genres and unite people through the melody and the act of performing the piece together.

NAMM is also encouraging people to pick up an instrument of their choice and play any time on May 3 as part of the Music Monday celebration. This is the sixth year that NAMM has supported Music Monday, which is also hosted by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada and has grown to more than 2,000 schools since its inception. You can register your school or organization as a participant in Music Monday by e-mailing musicmonday@namm.org.

If you plan to take part in Music Monday on May 3, tell us how you’ll be getting involved! Will you be participating in the group song, or playing an instrument?